The United States, through a federal grand jury in Pennsylvania, indicted seven Russian intelligence officers suspected on hacking the nuclear energy company, Westinghouse Electric Co. as well as several international anti-doping agencies and sports federations whereby data of over 250 athletes from more than 30 countries were breached.
According to the report from NPR, the charges involving the conspiracy to commit computer fraud and abuse and to commit wire fraud and money laundering were announced on Thursday morning, via the office of the US Justice Department.
Aside from Westinghouse, other organizations affected by the Russian hacking activity also include the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) and an unnamed Swiss laboratory where the testing for the poison used in the assassination of former KGB agent Sergei Skripal and daughter, Yulia, is being done.
The accused officers are said to be members of Russia's foreign military intelligence agency or the GRU. It is believed that the hackers published the breached information online through a certain group called the Fancy Bears' Hack Team.
Meanwhile, investigators from the US intelligence forces reported that the collective acquired the data through repeated cyber attacks on the networks of around 40 anti-doping agencies and sporting organizations including that of the International Committee and the World Anti-Doping Agency.
Data security of the IAAF (the International Association of Athletics Federations), which is the governing body of the International Football Federation (FIFA), has also been compromised by the aforementioned group of hackers.
Three of the seven accused Russian hackers were charged separately with a case involving the interference of the 2016 presidential election in the United States.
Mode of Operation
The filing came hours following the confirmation from Dutch authorities saying that they had busted a hacking attempt by certain Russian intelligence agents into OPCW in the Hague, Netherlands, this April, according to Reuters.
As further indicated by the news outlet, the GRU officers would often modify breached data before releasing it to the public.
In some cases, the hackers would establish correspondence with international news agencies in hopes to sensationalize the leaked information.
The US Justice Department also said with regards to the Westinghouse data leak case that only one operative was able to pull off the hack. According to the agency, the intelligence officer stores numerous log-in credentials of Westinghouse employees working for servers based in the United States. This also includes the staff assigned in the company's nuclear reactor and development unit.
In a statement released to Reuters, Westinghouse clarified that the phishing campaigns made by the Russian hackers weren't that all successful.
